Just Say It
by skye3
Summary: This was uncharted territory and normally Tony, being the king of spontaneity, would just jump in, head first into the situation. But for some reason, he wasn’t sure how to deal with this one. PEPPERONY oneshot. Total fluff.


**A/N: I just had this idea and it won't go away. So here it is. I hope you like it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.**

Tony crouched in front of the suit, his brows furrowed in concentration. His thoughts however, were not focused on the flight stabilizer in front of him, but rather on a certain red head who is currently busy plowing through thousands of emails in the living room. Something was not right with her. On several occasions, he caught her staring at him. It's not that he did like her staring at him, but she had this look on her face when she did. And he didn't know the meaning of that look.

He was pretty confident that he knew Pepper inside and out by now. He could pretty much tell what mood she's in by just looking at her. He knew her pet peeves. And he knew what makes her light up like a Christmas star. But leave in to Pepper prove him wrong. Because this new look she's been sporting when she thinks he's not looking, is new. This was uncharted territory and normally Tony, being the king of spontaneity, would just jump in, head first into the situation. But for some reason, he wasn't sure how to deal with this one.

He was sure of one thing though. He was sure that it started after that charity Halloween party for a certain orphanage they did last weekend. So he started to re-evaluate, replaying every conversation they had before, during and after the event.

_Maybe he'd said something?_ No.

_Maybe something happened?_ No. He'd spent the whole night staring at her because she looked ridiculously sexy in that Morticia Adams costume. That's right. They went as Gomez and Morticia Adams. It was his idea and Pepper went along with it. And he was pretty sure she had a great time at that party. The children were all over her and she loved it.

He ran over everything again and again in his head. But he came up with nothing. He frowned. This was getting frustrating. He threw the wrench on the table beside him.

"Something wrong?"

"Pepper!" He jumped. "When did you get here?"

Pepper frowned. Tony was never a jumpy person. "I just got here. Come on," she reached for his arm, "lunch time."

"Okay." He stood up and wiped his hands with an equally greasy rag.

Pepper rolled her eyes. She grabbed his hand and dragged him up to the kitchen. "Okay," she said as he washed his hands in the sink, "I got Chinese. What do you like? Chicken noodle or seafood noodle?"

Tony dried his hands and sat down. "Chicken."

"Alright, here you go." She sat down and handed him his take out. But then he was just staring at her. Unmoving.

"Tony!" She snapped her fingers at him.

"What? Oh, yeah, chicken. Thanks Pep." He reached for his food but Pepper moved it away.

"Tony, are you alright?" She stood up and went to inspect his head with her fingers. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head hard from that mission yesterday?"

He sighed. "I'm fine, Pepper." He grabbed her hands and pulled her to his side so he could see her face. Still holding her hands with his, he said, "The question is, are _you_ alright?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Pepper, you're my wife," he pulled her to sit on his lap, "and I know when you're not alright." He put his arms around her and gave her a light squeeze.

"Tony, I'm fi – "

"Please don't tell me you're fine." He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and looked her straight in the eyes. "Because I won't believe you. I know something is up. You've been….off since we came back from that Halloween thing."

She held his face with both hands and said, "I'm fine, Tony. I'm just tired." She gave him a kiss before standing up and moving to sit on her chair. "I'll rest up this weekend and I'll be as good as new. TGIF, right?" She winked at him playfully.

Tony chuckled and started devouring his chicken noodle. He'd give it a rest for now. But he fully intends to revisit the topic later tonight.

– pepperony – pepperony – pepperony – pepperony – pepperony – pepperony –

"Jarvis, give me a visual." Tony busied himself with the suit after lunch. He finished fixing the flight stabilizer and the repulsors. He was in the middle of working on a kink in one of the boots when he heard the familiar clicks he loved so much.

Pepper cautiously went down the steps to the workshop. After entering her code, she strode in and headed straight for her husband. He stopped working as she stopped behind him.

He swiveled around to face her. "Hey," he smiled at her. "What's up?"

When Pepper just stood there biting her bottom lip, something she did when she was nervous or unsure of something, Tony stood and approached her.

"Hey," He placed his hands on her hips and drew her near. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." He gave her a reassuring kiss on her temple.

Pepper sighed and closed the distance between them, burying her face in his chest. Tony hugged her, one hand running up and down her back to soothe her.

"Pepper – "

"You were right." She finally spoke, lifting her head so they were face to face. "Something _is_ up. But it's not a bad thing. It's just…." She stopped, not knowing how to continue.

"What?" Tony murmured. "What is it?"

She let out a frustrated sigh as she pressed her forehead against his. _Why was this so hard? _

"Pep – "

"Tony, I….I want to have a baby."

Tony stared at his wife. Surprise evident in his features.

"Tony – "

Then he laughed and kissed her. Now it was her turn to be surprised.

"That's it, Pepper? You want to have a baby?"

Pepper glared at her husband. "Tony, this is not something you laugh about!"

He shook his head, still laughing. "No, no. I know. I'm sorry. It's just…I was having these horrible things running through my head. But this is a good thing. Right?" His smile was so bright it rivaled the arc in his chest.

"It is?" She giggled.

"Yes! Yes, it is." He answered and in one swift motion she was cradled in his arms, being carried to the couch. He sat her down and kissed her senseless.

"I love you, Pepper." He said against her mouth. "We'd make beautiful, genius babies."

She giggled. "I love you too. And…a baby. We'll start from one and we'll go from there, okay?"

"Okay," He nodded, that sexy grin spreading across his lips. "Want to start making our beautiful genius baby right now?"

"I have no objections to that proposal, Mr. Stark."

**Thanks for reading!**


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